Race Up The Chesapeake: A Volvo Ocean Race Special

The following program is made by NPT to serve all of our diverse communities and is made possible by the generous support of our members. Thank you. Anyway I mean it all began last fall and the ghosts mean hundreds of thousands a ceiling fan said fine by August 17th beginning an incredible thirty three thousand mile global journey. There on some of the fastest sailing yachts ever built. ABN Amro One ABN Amro to. Pirates Of The Caribbean. Brazil won. Ericsson raising. Modi's star. And Grinnell. Their crude by some of the world's most talented sailors competing on nine legs that circled the world. First. The long trek to keep count South Africa. Followed by stops and over this failure and Wellington New Zealand. The most recent stopover in Rio de Janeiro. It was on to the harbors of both

Baltimore and Annapolis for weeks up the Chesapeake. I am Gary Jobson and I'm Jeff Salk and welcome to NPT special coverage of the volatile ocean race in Maryland. This race has been underway for more than six months now these crews sailing around the world in some harrowing and exciting conditions as well as fast as 40 knots battling seas as high as 20 feet. And Gary for those of us who spend most of our time on land it's a little hard to understand everything that's happening so I'm glad you're here to answer a few questions for us. Starting at the beginning how did this get going. Well actually this is a little bit a throwback to the great clipper ship era that used to sail around the world with the wind. Joshua Slocum a hundred years ago set the pace of an amateur going around the world. But it was really the Royal Naval Sailing Association in 1973 that said let's do a race. I only got a couple dozen votes and they went racing around the world. It's been happening every four years and this is the ninth edition right now.

How long have you personally been involved in this sport. Well I got my first boat at the age of six in 1956 and I've been racing ever since. And I've been following around the world race since 1989. What's the status of this race we know that seven yachts started out. But there's been a little attrition along the way. Well there's two stories to this race one is incredible speed as you mentioned of these boats going up to 40 knots the second some real hardship along the way. Two boats broke down a leg one two boats and like to a third boat on leg three here one boat has missed the last two legs. So we're learning that these crews are resourceful. The boats are fast but best of all here they are in Maryland and it's for up to us to appreciate it. The speed is a big difference compared to years past what was this race or were similar races like in terms of speed. A generation ago. Well in 1973 in the Whitbread round the world races was called the boat's average about seven Want point 1 mph. These boats are

going nearly 14 miles per hour and that's an average day yesterday 24 hours a day. So modern technology has double the speed of the boats in one generation. Let me ask about the horse race and it's not a horse race it's a yacht race but but who's in the lead and how competitive is it at this point. Well it's extremely competitive these people know nothing but winning. They're all champions from the Americas Cup from the Olympic games around the world racing. They want to win the Dutch boat ABN Amro One named after the bank in Holland. It's got a commanding lead at this point. They've been ahead 53 of the 78 days they've been out in the water. And they don't want to let down now. But look there's going to be six boats starting here in Annapolis and they're going to try and beat them any way they can. And they're learning the boats behind are getting faster and faster So still it's anybody's race. Well it's been a very long time since there were any pirates seen on the Chesapeake Bay but on Easter Monday the Pirates Of The Caribbean entered the bay and

Gary had a chance to board the pirate vessel while it was at sea. No job is too big or too small but now the civic job aboard the ferry with Becca as we're trying to rendezvous with Pirates Of The Caribbean here at the entrance to Chesapeake. They play now the wind is blowing about 25 knots the seas are huge at least for us at about four and a half feet. Our mission is to get me off this boat on a small dingy driven by the coach of Old Dominion that's been laid under the island of the tunnel of the Bay Bridge and then I get up on pirates only bought a little slow down for me. We're going to give it a good shot. Hang on just to be a wild ride. Lucky for us pirates approaches the Chesapeake Bay at the narrow entrance to the Bay Bridge Tunnel walking or part.

The seas look. Mighty big from the small dinghy that will take me over to Pirates. I talked with K. ard on the VHF radio to coordinate the transfer. Under the lee of the rocky island. The seas are calmer and the wind like they are slows the boat to 80 mph. And presto. I jump right up on board. After a hearty welcome from the crew I pull out my trusty camera. OK Art is clearly enjoying the ride and glad to be nearing the finish of leg 5. I find him to be relaxed and we flecked it. Feel like a relief getting into the Chesapeake Barry. Really does this time. I was thinking about writing that in my daily report tonight. Sitting here now. 10 miles in Chesapeake it's nice and smooth water. It's not a particularly nice dave and been a long ride from Rio it was really hot in the last 48 hours here. Bermuda. Has been one bottle after the other and there when you go through a high pressure ridge we had to go through some low pressure cells last night we have

thunderstorms even slathering. We've been plaining. Been changing the sales. Pretty much more now. Sounds pretty nice to be in the shelter than they were. Eight years ago I was with you at this time. I think you are 38 at the time. And you tell me boy you know I'm going to a lab for that. Well. The years have gone by when you're 46 or 47 46 is that over forty six going to. My chart. All in all it's been a great experience though you know there was something new here a little bit in the boat. The boat is a fact. It's a thing. Basically it's a 70 foot thingy and I grew up film lasers and five of fives and I've really enjoyed the speed that this vote put out it's awesome I'm sure you've seen some of the footage of us coming out of Melbourne I mean the thing is just incredibly fun to sail. And the canting keel technology I think it has a great future for all of sailing cruising and racing. He's just. A very easy way to get stability. And then the Disney factors in a lot of fun. We get many passengers like me on a boat.

Gary you're the first passenger. That's pretty neat. We had a few guests you know Im guessing the inshore races but nobody's come with us on a on a leg. You know I heard about ramping up that of all the races throughout the young man's game. But I look around Europe or you go to Atlanta I think 48 pervious 50 Yeah and humid around the world right now I want to own the badge of the oldest crew member on board the boat for once in my life you're a we did the America's got together in 83 I was the youngest crew member. For a long time I was always one of the younger people on board boats so I said this is it it's my last time around the planet. I'm going on the badge of the oldest crew member so I started that way. We didn't even get out of the go to we had to get Earl Williams on board so he took me took my title away from me. And now in Rio Kirby slides in here he takes title away from Williams. So we have four of 10 crew members on this boat. You're over 40 you click just in clover. It's already too. Much water can you keep going if you know it's funny.

Gary I think you asked me that question when I was 37 and I was sailing on America. You like Oh yeah I said then I think a total of 50 and we both laughed thinking as a thank you it's like it gets a car. It's demanding I think you know knowing that you have to work out every day that you can start worth essentially your days in this part of the world would be over. Oh yeah I can see sailing a long long time with friends in a different capacity on the phone. But right now it's nice to watch it on there. Most backbreaking part of this whole deal will. Sail back. Lucky for me I switched to participate in the crew so. I don't have to let you see your hat otherwise I mean we're going to think. Of it a theory of the dagger boards with the cannon keel the cannon keel loses lifting a fish and sea as it gets canted out to windward it's no longer vertical

in the water so to provide lift for the boat into resists the way we need dagger boards on these boats. And so when we're in upwind situation which the holler is highly pressed we put a dagger board all the way down. Carrot is one of the most experienced blue water sailors in the world. But found the near sinking offscreen to be frightening on all my 40 years of sailing those were the. Scariest moments that I have been a part of the moments where I thought possibly the boat would sink. A little. Bit. Yeah we. Should. Really. Be. Friends. You. Want to. Make sure. There isn't a. Lot of work coming. To you. Very quickly. To you. When you. Go to war. Everybody. There is a. Right. We had a pretty serious problem that first night. The amount of water that was being

forced up into the keel box and the potential to sink the boat was pretty severe. So I let the other teams of similar construction design know what had gone wrong with our boat. Are all the breakdowns behind you now. Well that's impossible to know but I have a high degree of confidence that the boat is in good shape now and that we've experienced most of what can go wrong. Small boats are skittish at high speed capsizing is easy. OK Art thanks. Then you see yelling is analogous to racing this huge machine. It's an extremely exhilarating feeling and it's one that can be appreciated by anybody who sailed dinghies this is that at that speed this thing sails and handles just like a 70 foot five all five or forty niner. It's very very light on how we can steer it with one hand it's very very wet. The water's just coming back with the fire hose as we call it is got a high amount of pressure.

It's wet and fun and I think everybody enjoys it the helmsmen probably the most but everybody's. Pretty amazed these boats have been impressed all of us. Looks like you do every job on a boat here in fact everybody gets to do everything. Everybody does absolutely everything from building. To building the boat to changing sails to driving everybody does everything building. Yet bailing the boat gets water inside you gotta. Clean the building. That sounds like a lot of fun. That's not bad. There's so much water running through there it's perfectly clean. As the sun sets off Solomons Island the wind dies its slow going as pirates works their way north at sunrise a fresh normally fills but a new problem. Pirates stops them in the water at the Brickyard three miles south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge off Annapolis. Notice the determined calm of the crew. No panic here. The crew ships the sails the turn the boat toward deeper water. It takes a minute or two. But pirates bumps over the mud flat and once again is sailing.

After 5000 miles pirates is comfortably in third but the vagaries of Chesapeake Bay kept the final results in question the best part I found the crew of pirates was just enjoying the moment just being aboard the boat was special. This thing was fast and they like to. Come more united under fire and. Very challenging when you hear. Me. Say. This. Thing in the morning and. Get everything. Out everything. In the boat. Make enough. Of the darkness. To let them. Leave. The. Point right here on the.

Mall. Right. Now. This. Whole. Night. The Beau crossed the finish line cleanly and there were hard cold handshakes all around. For me it was a real pleasure to be part of it for 18 hours. As Gary mentioned ABN Amro One was first across the finish line here in Baltimore and we had a chance to talk with Skipper Mike Sanderson. I think of all about that an amazing thing by creating this new class you know 70 foot Apted breaking world records and you know the end of the day I think the sport made it a little boost to make it more exciting for the people to watch on TV and not sit in the footage it's coming off of all the 70s I think has everyone even if you don't like water for a sense it's exciting the pace of the sport needed to check up on that. But it's a

very very fast and we having some amazing styling in them and I really like a big sketch on steroids. They're incredibly light and responsive and it's hugely powerful that they really are very cool about. It Ever since almost winning the first leg we move the red line down a little but feline. So yes we you know it was we had an interesting press conference and Rio de Janeiro was about the skipper mommy. Was asked whether he thought you know he'd push too hard in the southern ocean. His reply was he believes about need to be strong enough. To go 100 percent before you know when others know why we're at a hundred the scene of 40 you know we're probably starting to back off and more like come 20 20 I know it's a part of the difference. Now whether that's just because we have the luxury of all the points I assume that's the. Side I use each leg that we have a good leg we will move that red line down a bit like you turn the tuba down in a right line she started to go to you know nicely. All the different a very strong and they are often

strong at different times they were racing one guy on one condition and I rising another gone another condition and but I think at the end of the dime always will be you know they're there differently you start to get some reliability would say about that very strong Tain. There's fame on the water for a long time. Down the pirates. If the two were starting to get some consistency I'm. Starting to be on the podium more and more we've got a very strong taint. And that's the whole team you know in the design team the siding team from. You know the short team and things the whole structure of the team is going very smoothly. We're going to gripe about what job the this great team has. Has. All of the boats in this race were designed by just two companies one of them is based in Argentina the other here in Maryland. Bruce Farr and Russell bowler started their company called Phar yacht design in Annapolis. So we went to Annapolis to find out why two New Zealanders would start their company here.

We went through a series of decisions the first one was to be in the northern hemisphere. Chose the East Coast of the U.S. I being in the middle of a lot of sailing activity. The West Coast USA and Europe. If anything going into the ocean and then we went up and down the coast looking for a climate. The stuff I was 6 effable to New Zealand and. Annapolis stood out there so we moved here 26 years ago and being here in the sense that we have 17 employees three of those are administered the stuff the other 14 involved in the design. You know 30 years ago we had a hand calculator and a few writing programs set up on the computer and the computer revolution has made our business very different. We now have a multitude of software that helps us in the design process. We can simulate various design options and see how they can appear we can simulate the race

course. All the drafting now is done and the 2d or 3D you can program. So someone that walked out of a design office 30 years ago. And. Came back and walked in one today. Would be shocked in the night. The poem was simply role was conceived specially for this right and at the end of the last rites for the velvet 60s there was a general feeling that the design wasn't as plaster as modern as it could be could have done several Rices. And there was a need to try and give the rice with a boost for the for the new. And it was a combination of a number of design houses and the rule makers and the people involved getting together and deciding on the concept. Once the roll was finalized Of course you can then start the process of developing the bytes that fit within that role. The difference between the 60s and 70s are quite extreme.

They're 10 feet longer of course by the way about the same. They have a lot and they have a Canon keel on the 70s which enables them to shift the ballast to one side or the other of the body so they are a lot faster. Credible speed speed machine. The 70s topped out at home ice 40 knots and they sit quite regularly between 30 and 40 knots in. Good. Southern Right. So it's a quantum leap in terms of what I'll sell but. The design office here follows the right step by step with modern navigation you can plot their course very accurately in the use virtual spectator to see how the bytes are going so the whole office follows that very closely. There any problems on the boat we generally assist the crews with or be over the fire

with some calculation today Ali and to assist them in overcoming those problems. And if they need any assistance at this stop us we get to the stop by this and help where we can. During the stopover sites really go through two stages they are taken out of the water and inspected and if there's been any problems they are reported from the sailing crew the fuel crew the sailing crew pretty well go away and hide for a few days because they're feeling exhausted at the end of this of these legs it's physically very demanding and they sleep deprived and. Have been through some pretty tough times. They journey creep away. And rest up a little bit with a show crew it's a short cruise to work 18 hours a day. Going through this. Now the problems on the budget and the machinery out with taking the hydraulic Rangel there OK so that now you have head you know you pistons and you are all designed and built and then the second phase is when they get right back in the water and then the journey trying to look at Styles for a week they have new styles built and they want to try them

out and have a look at sheetz them on make some decisions as to what science will be carrying on the Nick Clegg said during that phase we have to get a number. Now design office out on the ice actually sailing with the crew. When you see them come up with specific buy into a hometown it's an enormous feeling of pride I mean the beautiful barge the very fast boats. The people sailing them and being good friends for 20 30 years they are enjoying the fact that there are all these new pioneering boats sitting you speed for mile life in racing boats so they're kind of thrilled to be involved with the whole program we're thrilled to be involved the whole program and it's it's great to have them here in the Annapolis Maryland. Well the ABN Amro team has had great success so far with its design but Gary some of the far teams have had. Some rough sea is what happened. Well there's four four boats in this race and they're all first generation boats with very little

time to prepare and train ABN Amro on the other hand designed by Juan karma John is a second generation boat they've learned from the past and ends their winning. Here's an interesting thing far yacht design and karma Zhang have teamed up together to represent the United States in a next America's Cup. So far has got a good guy on his team and I bet that Bo is going to be pretty fast. Are any people asking Were these designs too radical. Well these boats are built to the edges they're extremely light boats. And the problem is really with the keel mechanism. I mean this is new it's experimental. Their feet were in a fire right away. But here's the good news. The boats are doing a lot better now after three legs we're not seeing breakdowns anymore. Does that mean it's back to the drawing board before the next Valvo race. Well they'll be a lot of assessment that goes on between these boats and I think the next generation around the world racer is going to be a lot more prepared and a lot faster. Well this is the third time that both Baltimore and Annapolis have played host to this

event and for those of us in the area there are a lot of festivities to take advantage of. There's a pit stop in New York but we're to stop over in North America. All eyes are on going outward. We put together an amazing grace Committee of the fund raising community and it truly is a public private partnership of the state the city of Baltimore and now close the city of Baltimore is hosting the Baltimore waterfront must we have lots of activities taking place right along the west shore at the Inner Harbor and also Nashville. We have an. Activity such as a cooking demonstration. In our Chesapeake kitchen. Jazz is on the menu for Sundays. We have entertainment on stage throughout the day on there on Sunday of the festival would have our ultimate cook off and that's where we try to contrast. So we have regular folks who are competing or bringing their best crab soup. We also have visiting. Ships. For the ocean race they can actually come and

see the boats. The floating docks are located. The last field on the south side of the Inner Harbor closer to the Science Center as well. And that's a chance to actually go and talk to the families find out what it's like for them to live on a boat come out. Bring your families sit. Back and enjoy great entertain. Oh. Annapolis is so excited to be hosting the Volvo Ocean Race once again. We really know how to welcome the sailors in this and the kids and make them feel at home when they're all the way across the other side of the world if you will. Our businesses have rolled out the red carpets throughout the May 4 3 7 Maryland maritime heritage festival the ball the ocean race boats will be here on display for people to get a real close and personal look at and even in some instances board on Sunday May 7 will have the blessing of the fleet at 10am and shortly after that the boats will be allowed into the water to position for the beginning of leg six of the Vaal the ocean race.

So that is a full calendar of events and Gary you'll be involved you'll be participating in some of these events. Well in addition to the racing there's a lot going on around the waterfront. I'm going to get to be master of ceremonies at the prize giving and John Legend The Grammy Award winner is going to be singing there. And here's a special event on Saturday morning May 6th on the city dock of Annapolis. All seven skippers will be on the stage and the public is going to be able to ask them questions at the skipper's forum. It's going to be a great event. Well definitely exciting times and that is our special look at the Valvo ocean race in Maryland. I'm Jeff Saucony. And I'm Gary Jobson. Thanks for being with us. Wow. The preceding program was made by NPT to serve a very diverse

community. And was made possible by the generous support of our members. Thank you.